


Something Easy, Something Hard

by RunWithWolves



Series: There's A Garden Where RWBY Fics Grow [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Bumbleby Week 2019, Dancing, F/F, atlas ball, i tried to stay away and yet here we are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-29 04:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19822957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunWithWolves/pseuds/RunWithWolves
Summary: Team RWBY might be going to the Atlas Ball but they're more interested in stealing Schnee Company secrets than they are in the party.Unfortunately, Blake and Yang seem more interested in each other than the mission. Sometimes it's easy to talk to your crush. Sometimes, it's really really hard.





	Something Easy, Something Hard

**Author's Note:**

> I'd meant to finish writing all my Carmilla stuff before jumping into RWBY fics but the prompt came and I couldn't resist.
> 
> i just love me some bees!

Some things were easy.

Blake’s breath caught like time had ceased functioning, everything freezing but that which somehow took over everything. Weiss, standing beside her, vanished. The snow stopped falling. The soft party lights froze in their glow. Only one thing moved. Yang stepped from the car and the world was still. Except Yang. Yang laughed, holding out her metal hand for Ruby to grab onto as she stumbled from the car in her heels. Yang dressed in shimmering gold as the fabric flowed around her in simple lines, waves of light scattering over the frozen landscape. 

And Blake couldn’t breathe. 

Didn’t really want to. 

Until Yang turned, her hand clutching Ruby’s, and their eyes met. Time started to flow once again, brought to life by the smile blooming over Yang’s face. The look in her eyes that Blake never quite knew what to do with but made her stomach flip over. 

“Blake,” Yang strode forward, hauling a teetering Ruby behind her, “Blake. You. You look. Just. You know.”

And it was easy. Easy as Yang’s free hand flapped the air, her eyes on Blake’s face before dropping and then bouncing up again, Yang tongue clearly caught in her throat.

Blake smiled, “Take your time Yang, I’m sure the word will come to you.” A blush lit over Yang’s cheeks. Blake arched an eyebrow ran a hand over her dress, something dark and silky that Weiss had pulled from seemingly thin air and tossed at her. Weiss hadn’t even let Blake look at it or try it on or protest. She’d just looked Blake straight in the eye and said, “Trust me.”

And Blake had. With Yang stuttering in front of her, it had been the right choice. 

It always was. 

Until the words that Yang found nearly stopped time all over again, “I’m not sure” Yang said, “that there’s a word good enough for this. For how you look tonight.”

“Oh.” The sound slipped out, soft and small and sacred. 

Then Ruby was trying to walk and nearly falling and Yang was chuckling as she hauled her sister to her feet. The moment enough to bring Yang back to herself. She tucked Ruby’s hand safely in her elbow and turned to Blake, “I’d escort you in myself but if I let this one go, she’s absolutely going to blow our cover and I don’t have arms for all of you.”

“Hey!” Ruby protested, “I’m absolutely not going to do that.”

“You can’t even stand,” Yang said, “We’ve got to find you some flats. I bet we can find Weiss’s childhood closet if we bother enough servants.”

“See if you can get pictures,” Blake said.

“Little Weiss pictures!” Ruby cheered. Then wobbled, grabbing back onto Yang.

There was an exasperated huff next to Blake’s shoulder as a slim hand latched onto her elbow, “I’ll go with Blake,” Weiss said, “Just get inside before I change my mind about this whole thing.”

Yang nodded, stepping towards the light of the door, but took her two fingers and pointed them at her eyes and then straight at Weiss, “No tomfoolery you two.”

Weiss rolled her eyes as Blake shook her head, the two walking forward and easily passing the stumbling sisters, “How could we, you’re taking all the tomfoolery with you.” 

“Rude.” Yang deadpanned.

Blake turned just enough to look back, “And Yang?” she called, “If the two of you decide to ever make it instead, I’ll save you a dance.”

Then she stepped inside, Weiss on her arm, as the sounds of Yang literally hauling Ruby to her feet to get her to move followed them. When she looked over, there was a small smile on the corner of Weiss’s lips.

“Well, you seem oddly cheerful for someone marching back in here,” Blake said. 

Weiss shrugged, although Blake didn’t miss the way her grip stayed tight on Blake’s arm, “It’s hard not to be distracted by the sheer overwhelming amounts of gay that you and Yang are giving off. Look, I’ll admit it’s almost cute but just please try not to kiss her until we finish this mission.”

Blake almost tripped down the tall stairs as they stepped into the main ballroom. 

#

Some things were hard.

Blake had said that she was saving Yang a dance. Yang shook her head, hair curling around her shoulders. Blake, Blake the most beautiful girl in the world Belladonna, was saving her a dance and Yang hadn’t even had the guts to ask her. And now she was outside in the snow in her ballgown and it was too late. 

It shouldn’t have been hard. The night had gone smoothly.

They’d made it into the ballroom, found Ruby some better shoes, and even mingled with some of the hoity toity folks that made up the ball. Yang had been the one forced to laugh and make small talk; Blake beside her with a strained smile when no-one would meet her eyes, Weiss looking like she was going to either run or summon another boarbatusk or both, and Ruby with eyes only for the buffet table. Then the music had started and the dancing had begun. She’d watched the Atlas elites start to dance. She’d watched Ren and Nora start to dance. She’d even watched Weiss get cajoled into showing Ruby how to dance. 

And she hadn’t had the guts to ask Blake to dance. 

It shouldn’t have been that hard but everytime Yang turned, the question on her tongue, her throat had dried out and her lungs had felt like they were burning. Blake had even caught her the second time, frowning and gently placing a hand on Yang’s forearm as she asked if Yang was okay. Eyes soft and kind and caring, ears twitching in concern, as her dress shifted like the night sky itself had decided to come down from the sky to dress her. 

And even the night sky couldn’t match her beauty.

Yang, stars in her eyes, had simply said she was fine and downed her glass. Before she’d found the courage to try asking again, it was mission time. Hand in hand, Blake faking a laugh that was much more convincing than the one Yang had let out, they slipped out onto the balcony. Ruby and Weiss left behind to run interference and for plausible deniability.

After all, who would oppose a Schnee and her fearless leader if they said that Blake and Yang had been with them the whole time. No-one smart. 

The wind was soft as the snow fell around them but Blake’s ears still flattened close to her head against the cold, “You okay?” Yang asked.

“Mmmmhmmm,” Blake hummed, reaching under dress and pulling out a length of silken ribbon from who knew where, “You ready?”

“Absolutely,” Yang said.

The goal was to get to the roof as quietly as possible which meant that Yang’s usual method of blasting herself upward wasn’t going to work. They’d also agreed that, after last time, there was no way Blake was going alone. So they’d had to improvise. 

Ballgowns and all. 

Yang reached out, slowly, and wrapped her hands around Blake’s hips. Her front to Blake’s back. “Three,” Yang whispered in her ear and didn’t know if it was the cold or her touch that made Blake shiver, “Two. One.” She threw Blake upward, skirts billow from the updraft as Blake went soaring, using one of her shadows to propel herself the rest of the way before lightly landing on the next roof. 

Moments later, the ribbon unfurled down to her. Carefully, Yang wrapped it around her wrist and gave it a soft tug. She got an answering tug in return. 

“Just a sideways bumbleby,” she muttered, echoing Ruby’s earlier words. Shaking her head and checking for watching eyes, Yang took a running jump and launched herself off the balcony. Her dress flew behind her, snow melting on impact with her skin, as she stuffed down the urge to whoop with joy. Momentum caught her, pulling her upward as she hit the next balcony in perfect time to push her circle just a little farther. On the other end of the ribbon, she could feel Blake pulling, guiding her. 

Yang went up, momentum giving out at the peak as her hand went to grab one of the gargoyles on the rooftop. She hadn’t needed to worry, Blake was right there a hand on Yang’s other arm and the ribbon still tight in her grasp. The moon a halo around her head.

“Just dropping in,” Yang said, “Come here often?”

It was easy. It was hard. 

“Yang,” Blake stepped back as she jumped onto the roof, “That was truly awful.”

“Aw come on,” Yang said, “How often do I get to use that one? It’s not like I get to fly near as much as the rest of you!”

“We appreciate your sacrifice.”

Yang shrugged, following Blake up the slope of the roof towards their target, “I know my job. Stay down. Get hit. Pretty easy.”

Then her heart stopped as Blake stopped, waiting for her to catch up and reaching out, catching Yang’s metal hand in her own, “Taking the hit isn’t easy, Yang. Sometimes I wish we could take a few of them for you.”

When her heart started again, it was aching. Yang covered Blake’s hand, catching it between both of her own, “Hey,” she paused, waited until Blake looked up at her, “If I’m good at taking hits it’s only because you’re good at making sure that I don’t get hit by too many. You’re like a ninja, picking those things off.” Her smile was soft, “Make a good team that way.”

“Together.” Blake said.

“Together.”

They started walking again but Blake’s hand stayed tangled in one of Yang’s, the snow falling around them as the moon watched. 

“Although,” Yang added, letting a twinkle into her eye and jaunty smile on her lip, “I know you’re pretty tough but I’m not about to let Weiss take hits for anyone. I swear, that girl gets hit once and I turn around to find her unconscious on the ground. And don’t even get me started about Ruby! All the fight training and she still can’t roll with a punch!”

Blake snorted the smallest laugh and Yang felt like beaming. 

It didn’t take long to find the communications box at the base of the Schnee personal system. One well placed punch from Yang popped it open as Blake slipped some kind of Atlas tech from somewhere else in her dress into the electronics and started typing. 

Yang kept watch, eyes on the snow and the rooftop. All seemed silent but for the cold wind and the drifting sounds of music coming upward from the party. She may have wanted to punch Weiss’s father in the face but at least the man knew how to throw a party. He had nearly an entire orchestra down there, the smooth cadence of the song enough to make even the amateur dancer look good. 

That didn’t mean she still wasn’t going to punch him though.

One day. 

“It’s downloading,” Blake appeared beside her, her hands rubbing at the arms left bare by her black dress, “Should be about ten minutes and we’ll have all of the Schnee Company’s files.”

“Great,” Yang said, a little distracted by the way Blake was rubbing her arms. Her ears were flat to her head as the white snowflakes dotted her hair and dress. She frowned, watching the snowflakes literally melt on her own warm skin, “It’s pretty cold up here, isn’t it?”

“It’s not so bad,” Blake dropped her hands, trying to stand casually. Yang waited, eyeing her carefully while talking absently about the party downstairs. Moments later, Yang watched Blake try to hold back a shiver. 

When Blake looked up, caving and hold her own torso tight to try and preserve heat, Yang made sure her gaze was waiting. Some things were hard but watching Blake suffer was much much harder. It made the words easy. “Blake. It’s cold,” Yang opened her arms, “I’ve got plenty of heat to share.”

There was the briefest pause, half a heartbeat and an eternity in words unspoken as Yang waited with her arms open and her kindest smile on her face. And then her arms were full of Blake Belladonna, shivering against her skin and burrowing her face into the warmth of Yang’s neck as soft ears tickled the underside of her chin. A cold nose against her collarbone. Little exhales. One breath. Two.

Then Blake practically melted into her. She sank down into the heat with a contented sigh that could have set Yang on fire. 

Yang pulled on her semblance to flair the heat before wrapping her arms around Blake back, almost jumping in surprise at all the bare skin her hands found waiting. The backless dress she’d nearly lost her footing over by the limos.

Her hands flailed for a moment before a chuckle puffed against her throat, “It’s okay, Yang.” Blake said, “You can touch me.”

Her stomach flipped even as her hands settled. Blake’s skin was cold but still oh so soft under her palms. So they stood. One more breath. Two. Three. She felt Blake’s skin warm, her ears start to slowly unfold themselves as the two girls stood in the snow of the roof. 

The music drifting from downstairs changed, a simple tune that Yang actually recognized from Weiss’s personal collection. Absently, her hands gently shifting on Blake’s back to move the warmth, she started humming along.

Two more breaths and Blake moved, her arms sliding more firmly around Yang’s waist and her head pulling back to look at Yang with something that had Yang’s throat drying out all again. Something almost like awe. Something almost like peace. 

“I didn’t know you could sing.”

Something hard.

“Oh,” Yang almost ran a hand through her hair before remembering to keep it on Blake’s back, “I’m okay I guess. I used to sing Ruby lullabies and stuff. Plus, you know, she loves karaoke but hated going alone so… I just… you know.” She shrugged, “Weiss is better.”

Blake shook her head but her smiled bloomed, “You sing, you fight, i remember that you dance. What can’t you do?”

Something easy.

“I can’t ask you to dance. Even when it’s all I want.”

She caught the surprise on Blake’s face, flicker through half a dozen emotions before landing on one that looked faintly like hope, “And what’s so hard about that? It wouldn’t be the first time. And,” Blake added, “I did promise to save you one.”

Something real.

“I don’t want one dance,” the words clogged in Yang’s throat but she pushed them through as though she had gauntlets on her tongue, “I want all of them. All of them. With you.”

Blake’s eyes were shining, “Ask me.”

“Dance with me?”

“Always.”

There was hardly a shift, Blake tucking herself back into Yangs neck as Yangs hands drifted down to Blake’s lower back and pressing gently. They started moving, a soft sway in the smallest of circles with only the light of the moon and the fall of the snow to see them. Yellow and black dresses catching and releasing the shadows of light with every soft movement. Yang could feel Blake’s every breath, her every touch as the softly spun through the night to the faint music below. She picked up the melody, voice soft as a moonbeam. Words only for the ears of the girl pressed tight against her chest. 

She caught the last chorus, singing through and letting her voice hang like a whisper in the air until the music swelled for the next song. As her voice faded, Yang felt the softest press of a kiss against her throat and fought against the water in her eyes. 

Instead, she leaned back just enough to see Blake’s face. Blake cheeks were flaring red even as a smile curled her lips.

“Feeling warm?” Yang asked, a half joke as her thumb stroked the soft skin of Blake’s lower back. 

Then Blake took a breath and looked up to meet Yang’s gaze, even in heels Blake had to go up on her tiptoes. Yangs hands on her hips to stabilize her as she pressed her forehead to Yang’s. There was almost a challenge in her voice, “I could be warmer.”

Her breath ghosted over Yang’s lips. 

“I can help with that.” Yang whispered.

“Please do.” Blake said.

Yang kissed her. Yang kissed her in the middle of a mission on the roof of the Schnee manor in the snow as their dresses blew around their ankles. Yang kissed her soft, one hand moving up to cup Blake’s face and leave them blinking when they pulled away. 

The electronic box beside them beeped.

“Better?” Yang asked.

“Mmmmm,” Blake’s arms snaked around Yang’s shoulders, “Better stay close though, in case I get cold again.”

Yang was grinning when Blake stole another kiss, nipping at her lip before detaching and moving back to the box to detach whatever it was she’d put in there. 

“You know,” she said, voice almost lazy as she watched Blake lock everything back up, “We do need a cover for why we disappeared and having two of Wiess Schnee’s friends caught making out against a pillar would definitely be a distraction that people wouldn’t question.”

“That’s probably true,” Blake’s voice gave nothing away as she closed the box again, “Actually, Weiss explicitly told me not to kiss you until after the mission was over.”

“Did she?” Yang couldn’t decide if she wanted to be offended or amused. 

“She did,” Blake was suddenly in Yang’s space and tapping her scroll against Yang’s sternum, “And now that we have this the mission is technically over.”

Yang caught on, smile almost sharp, “So the Ice Queen would have nothing to complain about?”

“Get us down from here,” there was mischief in Blake’s eyes and Yang’s heart flipped into overdrive, “and we’ll see about giving her something else to complain about.”

Yang laughed, loud and free, before stealing one end of the ribbon from Blake’s hand and another kiss from her lips before diving off the side of the roof.

Something easy.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to this new fandom for letting me come play! I love this ship and it was so interesting to try and figure out how to write a new ship dynamic. Hope you enjoyed it too. Thanks for any comments or kudos and feel free to come swing by tumblr ( [ ariabauer.tumblr.com ](http://ariabauer.tumblr.com/)) to say hi!
> 
> stay stupendous!


End file.
